This is my new feature that talks about my favorite settings! I decided to call it Boats, Planes, and Trains because if I could, I'd take all of these forms of transportation to get to those places if I could! Just to be able to visit my favorite bookish places!

Friday, January 29, 2016

So one of my biggest reasons to name my blog Take Me Away was because I have never been many places other than where I've physically lived. To compensate I read many different books so I could visit them in the "literary sense." And now that I've read so many of them, I'm here to talk about my favorite ones. The best part about this... It can range from any genre! As long as I can envision it (or look it up on Google lol) I can see myself "visiting" there!

As soon as I heard about Illuminae, I knew I needed to read this one. All because I heard most of the setting was on a spaceship. I knew I would love it!

Here's what I envisioned:

I found this on Google and immediately thought about the Hypatia and the Alexander. Both of which were huge and had so many different bays and missile compartments and it was just all cool! One day I'd love to see the inside of one. For some reason I thought about this one submarine I've been on in Seawolf Park here in Texas near Galveston.

Although this one goes in the water, I can easily imagine this one being in the air too. I've also been on a tour of this submarine as well and the inside with all it's bays and compartments, I don't feel like there's that big a difference.

Then there's the "bigger picture for this setting. The entire outer space. I can only imagine what this one looks like since I've obviously never been, but I imagine that it would be all lit up like that and the stars everywhere. But I also think in Illuminae's situation, the sky may have been lit up red and orange due to REASONS. But for right now, I think this one here is good!

So there you have it! A few pieces of my favorite parts of the setting!

What were your favorite parts of the setting in Illuminae?

Any of the things I mentioned here?

Sidenote: There are a couple of the actual images in the book and a couple on Pinterest floating around. Those from Pinterest aren't from Jay Kristoff or Amie Kaufman though. They're all reposted images. Here's one straight out of my hardcover!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

At first I wasn't going to make this an entire post, I was just going to write about it on Twitter. But then I realized the people who follow me could also be school related. So, just in case you do follow me for school purposes, please follow me via Bloglovin or follow my Twitter. I post links there all the time.
For whatever reason Google decided to delete people if they don't have a Google account. This dropped my follower count significantly. But don't fret, I always post my reviews and features on Twitter as well as other places. Also don't forget about Bloglovin!

P.S. This may be the time when I seriously start considering making the move to WordPress because this is ridiculous.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

This bookish meme tells the blogosphere what we're waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for! It's hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine!

Joy killed Adam Gordon—at least, that’s what she thinks. The night of the party is hazy at best. But she knows what Adam did to her twin sister, Grace, and she knows he had to pay for it. What Joy doesn’t expect is that someone else saw what happened. And one night a note is shoved through her open window, threatening Joy that all will be revealed. Now the anonymous blackmailer starts using Joy to expose the secrets of their placid hometown. And as the demands escalate, Joy must somehow uncover the blackmailer’s identity before Joy is forced to make a terrible choice. In this darkly compelling narrative, debut author Laura Tims explores the complicated relationship between two sisters, and what one will do for the other. It’s a story that will keep readers turning pages and questioning their own sense of right and wrong.

Published by: HarperCollins

Expected Publication: May 24, 2016

Why I'm Waiting: This sounds like all kind of mind effery and I need to see what it's all about. I haven't seen any really good thrillers as of late, so I'm really excited to see where this one goes. Since I have a sister I'm really excited to see how that role comes to play. I mean I tell her all the time, "I'd do anything for you." This will be interesting to see how far that statement will go in this one.

2. The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: Did you NOT read The Fixer? Did you not see how cool it was? Maybe I'm just super obsessed with Scandal, but I love that this series is so much like it and I can't wait for more!

3. P.S. I Like You by Kasie West: Any and every contemp by West I will read. I love her way of writing contemp romance and this one sounds adorable too!

4. The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters: I love what this story is about (via the synopsis) and I also love that there is a POC on the cover. (I may or may not have added this to my TBR just for that reason smh lol)

5. Doreen by Ilana Manaster: Not sure if this is really happening, but it sounds really good. I'm a huge fan of classics being re-made and no one I've seen has done a remake of The Picture of Dorian Gray, so I really need this book to be released. And to be amazing!

9. When We Collided by Emery Lord: I LOVE Emery Lord and she's such a sweet amazing person. (I only know this via Twitter... *cries* come to Houston sometime!!!) And in this one the character is nerodiverse.... I NEEDS IT!

10. The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski: After what happened in the last book, I need to know what's going to happen in this one. EVIL CLIFFHANGER WAS EVIL. And now I need to get my hands on this. ASAP.

Monday, January 25, 2016

I'm sure a lot of you remember how I am about Diverse Books. Especially about those that fall under #ownvoices. So, while I was making this challenge, I promised I would have authors come and say a little something about diversity and what they feel about it. For the first guest, I have Marieke Nijkamp, debut author of This is Where it Ends!

"As a queer, disabled person, writing diversely always felt like a given to me. Every character I write is a choice, and why would I not choose to reflect the world around me? I know too well what it's like to read stories that, along several axes, always seemed to be about people other than me, and I strongly believe everyone deserves to see themselves as the hero of a story, and deserves to have thoughtful and respectful representation.

If I succeeded in doing that with TIWIE is not for me to say, but I do know it's heartening to see more and more inclusive stories--from the well-known trailblazers to debuts and new releases. 2016 alone sees some fantastic books coming out. Jeff Garvin's SYMPTOMS OF BEING HUMAN, about a genderfluid teen. Randi Pink's astounding INTO WHITE. Corinne Duyvis's ON THE EDGE OF GONE, an #ownvoices story featuring an autistic protagonist in the middle of the apocalypse. And Traci Chee's THE READER. We have a long way still to go, but we're making progress."

I have to admit when I got the answers back from Nijkamp I immediately added those other books to my TBR lol But I also felt really excited. As stated, there's still work to be done, but there is progress being made. There's more and more stories coming out. There's more and more teens reading them. (I've book pushed a couple to some at my library myself lol) and there's more attention being brought to them in other places!

Thank you so much Marieke Nijkamp for stopping by! And y'all if you haven't read This is Where it Ends, GO GET IT! It's heart breaking and emotional and you will cry rivers! lol

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves. Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start... until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right. That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau. Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

*MY THOUGHTS*

My thoughts are all over the place for this one. I'm not sure at all where to start with this one. For the most part, I'm so glad I read this book. On another hand I feel like maybe it wasn't the right time for me to read this one. Looking over other bloggers ratings, it looks like everyone either extremely loved it or the exact opposite. I somehow was able to fall smack in the middle.

"My retellings should be wrapped in my voice as cradled as casrefully as water so that no word spills."

23%

Natalie Cleary has way too much going on for an eighteen year old girl. She's seeing things and people and places are changing right in front of her eyes. But then she meets one boy who seems to help her understand all that's happening. Until something jumps in their way to complicate things even further.

"You never owe another person something, no matter how nice they are to you. Relationships aren't transactions."

37%

Unfortunately for the most part I found myself bored or confused with this story. Which really upsets me because I really did want to like it. I'm going to blame it on the fact that I read 3 time travel books in a row and this is why I didn't like it as much. I'm gonna go ahead and blame it on the fact that I was just burnt out. I probably should've waited to read this one after I read something else.

The prose in this one was beautiful though. The descriptions of the world and the folk tales told in this one were so good. There were times I would write down entire passages to keep them and reread them later. Henry's words are amazing and I can't wait to see what else she has in store.

"The bad things get exhausting."

52%

Although her writing was so beautiful, there were somethings that confused me. This book is very strange and there is ALOT going on without enough explanation. That is until the very end. Which is unfortunate to the reader. There's this huge info dump at the end in place of the conclusion. I know that's how most time travel books work, but this usually happens toward the beginning of the book. With this one, it seemed to be a lot all at once. Maybe too much.

"It's true that nothing has the potential to hurt so much as loving someone, but nothing heals like it either."

60%

What I was surprised by in this one was the diversity. I was not expecting the MC to be a POC and to be adopted as well. The best part was finding out more about Natalie's culture through the folk tales. I learned so many different stories and compared them to other stories I've already read. This has convinced me to want to keep learning and looking up more of those tales. <---This is the power of Diverse books y'all! I implore you to read them!

"The future's rarely certain [...] All we ever have is the present."

76%

This book brought out so many different emotions in me and provoked so many thoughts while I was reading it. I'm still not certain my words on this book have done my thoughts on it justice, so just go out and read the book!

Saturday, January 23, 2016

passage, n. i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes. ii. A journey by water; a voyage. iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time. In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now. Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not. Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

*MY THOUGHTS*

I really hate to do this. Like I really do. This is the January release I was most excited for and was looking forward to. And it just fell flat. I even put off writing this review because I was SO scared about how I was going to review this. For a while I said I was just putting it to the side, but in all actuality I know it's just not for me.

Etta is beginning to lose everything she's worked for. Including her time on stage that has finally come. But then something happens and Etta is thrust into something she has no idea about. A different century. She meets Nicholas who is sort of over the ship and they must collaborate to find something important. The only problem? Etta doesn't want to. Soon they realize they must work together, or Etta may not get home. Ever.

I have to admit, I stopped reading this one because I wasn't in the mood for it. Normally when that happens I'll stop and try reading something else. But this time when I stopped, there was just no reason I wanted to crack it back open. I was in a certain mood for something with a lot of action and romance and the place where I was ended up being just a bunch of rules for their time travel and frankly I was bored.

But to point out, there WERE some points that I did like. There was a POC and he was a main character. This was really the only reason I wanted to finish it. In the end it wasn't enough. Then there was Bracken's wonderful prose. I loved her writing skills and how they flowed, but the content was what got me. Just wasn't something I cared enough about. Maybe it was because me personally I'm not a huge historical fiction fan, but whatever the case, I wasn't a fan.

Whatever the case may be, I wan to tell everyone to still pick up the book if you're interested. Just because this wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean it won't be the same way for everyone! Give it a chance!

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About Me

29 years young. College grad. Working as a Youth Services Specialist. Masters from ALA accredited Univ. of North Texas (Library Science with a Youth Services certificate!) so that I can spread the word of literature to the youth. Books are a vacation and can take you anywhere you want to go... So follow me as I let books "Take Me Away... On the Pages of their Story."

Currently Reading

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Currently Listening:

A Stranger in the House by Shari LaPena

To all publishers and authors:

I do accept books (only MG/YA/NA)to be reviewed from big/small publishers or from any authors. I do not accept E-books. Also, I try not to review any books too far in advance of the publication date. Anyway, don’t hesitate to email me at pnh002@gmail.com.